{"id":71131,"date":"2020-08-25T10:23:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T10:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.designpoolpatterns.com\/natural-dyeing-with-materials-in-our-yard-and-kitchen\/"},"modified":"2023-09-25T17:54:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T17:54:45","slug":"natural-dyeing-with-materials-in-our-yard-and-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.designpoolpatterns.com\/natural-dyeing-with-materials-in-our-yard-and-kitchen\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Dyeing with Avocado and Yarrow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Our latest trend letter<\/a> is all about natural materials. Wicker, rattan and cane are catching our eye on modern pieces, geometric lighting and even with loud pops of color<\/a>. Natural materials are inspiring products even in the automotive industry<\/a>. But, natural materials are also extending into textiles and not just in fiber form<\/a>. Natural dyes are having a moment in the spotlight. While mostly reserved for smaller brands and limited runs, it’s fun to see brands as big as Chipotle<\/a> putting out a line of accessories dyed with (you guessed it)<\/em> avocados. All this talk about natural dyeing inspired us to do a bit ourselves this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a bit of cliche because it’s true, most people who work with textiles and fiber eventually find themselves wishing they’d paid more attention in chemistry class. Why? Because dyeing fibers is all about science, bonds, and molecules. It’s about going down rabbit holes about insect shells, sumptuary laws and realizing you could spend the rest of your life studying dyeing and there would still not be enough time. We also tend to have a bad habit of seeing shelves full of yarn and not seeing the exact<\/em> color you want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After throwing away more avocado skins and pits than we care to admit, we started saving them to try out dyeing with avocado. Avocado dyeing is a fun surprise because you end up with a beautiful shade of pink, not green. Dyeing with avocado involves two main steps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, you need to make the dye. To do this, put the cleaned skins and pits in an aluminum pot and simmer on a stove for about 90 minutes. This extracts the dye from the material. Once complete, strain everything through a sieve lined with muslin and discard the skins, or repeat to try and extract even more dye. This process leaves you with a small amount of concentrated dye.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFirst natural dyeing experiment: avocado!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n